Monthly Archives: April 2015

The movie “Selma” moved me deeply for a number of reasons. But one scene has lingered–the one where Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis are riding together in King’s automobile. King is exhausted, both by the effort it has … Continue reading →

The last persecution of Christians by the Roman empire was 303 a.d. A decade later, Christianity was the official religion of the empire. This meteroric rise from the bottom to the top changed the way Christians thought about their faith … Continue reading →

Read: “The Uprising of Worship” The incarnation transformed humankind’s understanding of God. As E. Stanley Jones put it, “Jesus put a face on God.” The face was attractive, so it is not surprising that the early Christians gathered to receive … Continue reading →

The desert Christians were earthy folk, perhaps in large measure because of the environment in which they worshipped and worked. While some of the Church’s best theology comes from the early-Christian era, it is almost always expressed through a tangible … Continue reading →

Those of you who know me know that I am a pragmatist more than a theorist when it comes to theology. I can work with abstractions and principles, but my mind keeps wanting to know how the doctrines and affirmations … Continue reading →

Read: “The Uprising of Discipleship” Using another week of fictional narrative, McLaren invites us into the apostolic fellowship once again. This time he takes us to what must surely be the essence of the Gospel–two words, “Follow me.” Perhaps like … Continue reading →

An emotion-driven concept of love draws back from thinking of love as a commandment. But the withdrawal is based on two false assumptions: that we love (or not) on the basis of how we feel, and/or that love is a … Continue reading →